Cardinal Convict Angelo Becciu retires from the conclave to choose the new Pope. What to know about your judgment of embezzlement.

The Italian cardinal in the heart of the Vatican “Century trial” Angelo Becciu, announced Tuesday that he would retire from participating in the Next conclave To choose a new Pope for “the good of the Church”, ending the days of drama that had eclipsed the procedures.

The state of Cardinal Becciu, who was convicted of fraud and embezzlement of funds in 2023, has dominated discussions in later days Death of Pope Francis Amid questions about whether he would participate in the conclave to choose Francis’s successor or not.

After his 2020 fall, Becciu had said that he would not participate in any future conclave. But in recent days he had affirmed that he had the right to enter the Sixtine chapel with other cardinals May 7.

On Tuesday, the 76 -year -old Italian issued a statement through his lawyers who said: “To have the good of the Church in the heart, which I have served and continue to serve with fidelity and love, as well as to contribute to the communion and serenity of the conclave, I have decided to obey as I have always done the will of Pope Francis so as not to enter the conclusion while I was convinced of my innocence.” “.” “

Who is Angelo Quemado?

Before accusations of embezzlement and nepotism arose about five years ago, Becciu was considered one of Francis’s main advisors.

He was once an influential head of the Vatican Cabinet who was a main papal contender.

Born in 1948 in Pinada, Sardinia, the 76 -year -old man was ordered to the priesthood in 1972, according to The College of Cardinals Report, an independent research website that Cardinals outlines. In 2011, Pope Benedict XVI appointed Becciu as a substitute for general affairs in the State Secretariat, the third most powerful official in the Vatican, according to the report.

Pope Francis then ordered Becciu as a cardinal in 2018 and appointed him Prefect of the Congregation for the causes of the saints.
But he fell out of favor in 2020 when Francis forced him to resign his work as head of the Vatican Manufacturing Office and his rights as a cardinal for accusations of financial behavior.

“The proof of the century”

The trial Focused on the Secretariat of the Vatican of the investment of 350 million euros of the State in the development of an old Harrod warehouse in luxury apartments. The prosecutors alleged the monsignors and runners of the Vatican, including Becciu, lit the Holy See of tens of millions of euros in rates and commissions and then extorted the Holy See for 15 million euros to transfer control of the London building.

The backpacks was condemned in December 2023 of embezzlement Derived from the original investment of 200 million euros in a fund that bought on the property, as well as for its donation of 125,000 euros of Vatican money to a charity directed by its brother in Sardinia, a large Italian island in the Mediterranean Sea.

Becciu was also convicted of using Vatican money to pay an intelligence analyst, Cecilia Marogna, who in turn was convicted of using the money for herself.

Becciu denied having acted badly and is appealing the conviction and prison sentence of 5 and a half years and had participated in the meetings prior to consumption, even Monday.

How does Becciu withdrawal impact on the conclave?

Becciu’s retreat does not affect the official Vatican statistics on the conclave because internally he never considered it eligible to vote.

There are 135 cardinal voters, although the Vatican spokesman, Matteo Bruni, confirmed on Tuesday that two had formally announced that they did not come for health reasons, which reduced the number of voters to 133.

Becciu is below the age limit of 80 and is technically eligible to vote, but the official statistics of the Vatican list it as a “non -elector.”

The Vatican document that regulates a conclave, known by its Latin name Universi Dominici Gregis, presents the criteria for voters, making it clear that cardinals under 80 have the right to choose the Pope, except those who have been “canonically deposited or that with the consent of the Roman Pontiff they have renounced the cardinate.” He adds that after a Pope has died, “the Cardinals College cannot readmit or rehabilitate them.”

There has never been a clarity about what Becciu resigned or how: the declaration of a line issued by the Vatican press office on September 24, 2020, he simply said that Francis had accepted Becciu’s resignation as the prefect of the congregation for the causes of the saints “and their rights connected to the cardinals.” There are no indications that he has been canonically sanctioned.

Francis’s letters to Becciu before he died

The Italian newspaper Domani reported last week that during the initial discussions prior to confronclave, Becciu received two letters signed by Francis before he died saying that he should not participate in the conclave. Becciu’s reference to Francis’s will in his statement on Tuesday suggests that the letters were the turning point that convinced him to withdraw from the vote.

Becciu jumped to fame and power under the conservative Pope Benedict XVI and is very affiliated with the old guard of the conservative Vatican. While initially became a nearby advisor to Pope Francis, the subsequent fall of Becciu at the hands of Francis could suggest that he would have voted for someone willing to undo some of Francis’s reforms.

After forcing Becciu’s resignation, Francis visited Becciu sometimes and allowed him to participate in the life of the Vatican. But Francis also changed the Vatican’s law to allow the Criminal Court of the State of the city to process it.

The absolute power of the Pope and the equity of judgment

Meanwhile, the questions have continued to turn about the integrity of the trial that condemned Becciu and eight others. During the process, the court heard that Francis intervened on several occasions in the name of the prosecutors and that the prosecutor’s main witness against Becciu was trained and manipulated by strangers.

The defense lawyers discovered that the Pope had secretly issued four decrees during the investigation to benefit prosecutors, allowing them to interception and detain the suspects without the order of a judge.

The lawyers cried badly, arguing such interference for an absolute monarch in a legal system where the Pope exercises a Supreme Legislative, Executive and Judicial Power violated the fundamental rights of his clients and stole them a fair judgment.

The court rejected its objections, but in recent weeks it has emerged even more evidence on the external manipulation of the witness and the apparent collusion with the prosecutors and gendarmes of the Vatican to point to Beciu.

Becciu is free waiting for the appeal, which is scheduled to start in September.

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